It’s 9:23 pm on Friday night and I am sitting in my turquoise blue office (the guy whose office I took over liked smurfs a WHOLE lot) and I’m doing work. I sure was here at 10 this morning on my day off. I’m going to either learn how to delegate or the unthinkable will happen...Burnout…. The Breakfast of Champions. I can’t get the smell out of my clothes at this point.

This is a day in the life of the Administrator at Evangel Temple. This coming Sunday we have 3 things to plan for:

1. Sunday morning Service
2. A Chinese Potluck Lunch
3. Annual Business Meeting

Those three little innocent things, have costed me my entire weekend! I worked all day today and I’m still here! I took a small break at 6 to go to a wedding rehearsal. This was pretty funny. I’m supposed to be pastor. He had something going on tonight, so I went in his stead for the rehearsal. It was pretty interesting. I’m standing there, feeling important, with this little black book in my hands, determining what vows are said, how the rings are exchanged, pretty much making or breaking this wedding and I’m for sure leaning on the side of breaking it. I’m missing cues all over the place, flipping pages to find the right ceremony to use while everyone looks on in awkward silence. Crickets chirping kind of quiet. Plus, you can’t leave out the fact that I nearly had an aneurysm just trying to keep my mouth shut with the wedding planner. I see her keep it bare bones, and I just want to say, it would step this wedding up a notch on the class scale, if you would have them walk this way instead of that, or why didn’t you suggest them taking communion instead of 25 minutes of dead time, while this guy sings the longest opera song in the history of mankind? Sheesh. Pay me! I’ll do it! So that was part of my night. And now, I’m packing up all my stuff, I’m going to rent a movie, and work while I eat some popcorn (hmmm kettle corn) if my roommate isn’t playing Halo live and meeting her next Mr. Right via a headset.

Oh my goodness. Welcome to New Year's Resolution #17. Finally back to blogging. Sorry folks... a lot happened in between that last blog and now, but I'm going to try to get back on track. I think this is a good idea, despite what some people say, and when I say "some people", I'm really just referring to one person whose name rhymes with Tom Deusch as in Deuschbag. Really I think it's shameless using your blog comments, however mean they might be, to show off the fact that you are married. It's all just a ploy by our good friend Mr. Deusch to say "Hey, I found someone to marry me, and not only that but she's a cutie petutie. Come see my blog". Yeah.... we're picking up what your putting down.

Well, nothing like wasting a whole paragraph on your first day back to blogging. But, I am happy to be back, and even more amazing than my new prodigal self, was the fact that people still commented on my blog. I was shocked when I got back on here (by the way, had to try loging in 5 times, before I finally remembered my username and password) to see that people had kept commenting. For all 3 of you faithful people......

Here's a quick update on me:

1.  Breakthrough 2005 ended, I cried and went through a small depression. It was like planning for a wedding, getting married, and then having to clean up after the party. I'm still kind of sad that it's over. BUT.... it may have opened a door elsewhere. Because of how well Breakthrough went, we may be asked to put on a conference for Benny Hinn. Now that, my friends, is pretty dog-on fantastic.
2. I'm still not dating or married to Shawn Quinney. Shouldn't this be tipping people off to the fact that we're JUST friends by now? We've been JUST friends for going on 6 years now. Folks, if something were going to happen, it would have by now, so let's move along already. Nothing to see here.
3. I lost weight on that 30 day fast, and still have kept some of it off. Praise Him!!!
4. I now work as the Administrator of Evangel Temple. It's really one big buffet table of work. Which makes for fine dining when you're a work-a-holic. I'm setting up a cot in my office so that I can be in position to win the Guiness World book record for fastest burnout. 
5. I live in Waxahachie now with a roomate. A good friend of mine from church named Carrie Shrank. She's fun and sticks to herself. Gotta love a roomate like that.
6. I'm not doing anything in worship right now. But will pick it back up when I come up for air.
7. I'm an aunt again. My sister Lisa had a baby
8. I'm also another aunt because my best friend Shawna Cummings is pregnant. WOO HOO!
9. I'm getting close to just stealing a baby myself. Keep an eye out on the news, maybe I'll be on there one day. Just kidding. No, really. I'm really just kidding.

These are just some highlights. I will keep the updates coming (hopefully a little more regularly in 2006)

Good to be back!

Wow, I have a lot to update!

1. I GOT TO PLAY WITH THE RED AIRPLANES!! - If you don't know who they are yet, you WILL! They were amazing and you can visit their site at www.theredairplanes.com. What's funny about this story is that Calandra (a friend and fellow praise/worshipper) came to practice one night telling me I have to hear this band and that I would love them, but I never got the chance. Then a couple of weeks later, I'm scheduled to lead worship for this youth event in Beaumont, TX and who are the musicians that are playing for me?!?.... None other than the very same band Calandra loved - The Red Airplanes. They were amazing! It was the best time I'd had in a long time with leading worship. It makes me want to forget leading for the Sunday morning crowd and get back into the youth worship circuit. It was fun, they were easy to work with, picked up everything real well, and rocked it out. Props to the Red Airplanes!

2. I wrote my first praise/worship song with a good friend of mine, Shawn Quinney!! Actually he wrote the song, I put the music to it. I have to say; it's one thing to write a song, but a completely different thing to hear the puppy done by an entire band. It makes it real at that point and it still blows me away to think about it. And then, when people come up and compliment the song, its even more unbelievable! The song is called More Freedom and I want to publicly thank Shawn for entrusting that to me. He went through a lot in his life to be able to write those words. They came from a place deep down, that no one could know like he does, and now that experience serves as a blessing to everyone that hears the song. It was a privilege and an honor.

3. I've decided to do a 30 day fast. I'm starting Oct. 7th - Nov. 6th (the service right before the breakthrough). Folks, it's a scary thing to decide something like this, when your one of those people that fast for 1 day and are at the fridge at midnight. Our church as a whole is fasting every Thursday right up until this Breakthrough Conference - it's a sunrise to sunset fast, and I sure do check the weatherchannel.com to find out the exact hour and minute that sunset occurs so that I can be ready, pizza in hand when the alarm goes off. That's how much it affects me to fast, so for me to decide to do this for 30 DAYS straight is an act of God! The reason that I'm telling you this is not to be a Pharisee about it. Some of you religious people are being offended right now because I didn't keep it to myself, but I wanted accountability. I'm telling you all, so it's official! I have to do it, no going back. Well... there it is. I expect to come out of this a different person. And you all can expect a crankier version of me until then. I just know from experience that you're all going to want to stay as far away from me as you can get until I'm eating again. Okay, you've all been warned. :)

4. I'm going to Argentina with a group from our church on Sept. 25th - 30th. I get to go behind the scenes at the Breakthrough down there to see how it's done and make any adjustments necessary to translate that here.  I am looking forward to that experience, as well as the shopping, and the taxi rides. PLEASE… if you ever go to Buenos Aires, Argentina, make sure ride in a taxi at least once. (All pregnant women and those with heart conditions should disregard the previous sentence. It may be detrimental to your health and you should avoid contact with Argentine Taxis unless otherwise noted by your doctors.) Having said that, it will sure show you what you’re made of. Words can’t describe, but Shawn has permanent scars on his arm from my fingernails when I was holding on from our last ride. Oh, and I desperately need money to come in for this trip. The church has covered the plane ticket for me to go, but I still need about $800 just to cover the expenses. Since, I still don't have a full-time job, it’s hard for me to contribute anything and so I’m completely relying on the generosity of others to be able to go. Pray for me that it all comes in soon!  THANKS!

My pastor, our administrator and myself just had a meeting with President Bridges and his 5 administrators. So, let’s start things off on a good note for myself by strolling into the restaurant 15 minutes later than everyone else. Trying to look like someone important who actually belongs there, I walk into the restaurant with the 7 meeting notebooks in my arm (the culprit that made me late to begin with) and all eyes turn to see who dares to join a big-wig meeting this late…. Yep, it’s the only girl in the room! Figures.

So I sit in the only available chair…. NEXT TO PRESIDENT BRIDGES. A sigh of relief, because it could have been DR. BROOKS!! I pick the president any day. He welcomes me with a friendly “How have you been?” and I automatically feel comfortable, like he is on my level somehow. He’s got a good way like that.

Second tragedy, those darn notebooks strike again, because there are actually 6 men from SAGU (Not 5 like I was told) and 3 from our side of the camp – giving us a grand total of 9 people. I only made 7 notebooks. Pastor, who had a notebook from a previous meeting didn’t bring his for this one, so people had to share! Here I am sharing a meeting notebook with the president now because I didn’t plan ahead and make extra’s.  Yikes!

Here’s the third and slightly ridiculous situation I dealt with. By the time I got there, everyone had already ordered. We’re eating at Bob Luby’s so I would have liked to have gotten the Jumbalaya… you eat it with a fork, which you wouldn’t think would be such a big deal until you get your food and it is a SHRIMP PO-BOY!!! (Thank you John Raftery… our fantastic administrator) I have FRENCH FRIES ON MY PLATE!!! Hello, I’m eating from the kid’s menu, everyone else has grilled salmon, salads, etc… and I have a shrimp sandwich that has some kind of peach colored sauce. How do I know that? Because it’s currently running down my arm! CURSE YOU JOHN RAFTERY! So I dip my French fry in ketchup and stick it in my mouth just as President Bridges asks me a question. Lovely. So I stopped eating at that point, which was fine because everyone had already finished and had their plates taken before I finished my first half of the blasted po-boy. I had to get a doggie bag for it later.

So, on an ending note, right about the time that I’m wishing for some saving grace, Terry Phipps walks in (WAY LATE!! WOO HOO) and sits across from me. Not only that but the meeting is just about to end and he orders coffee. It wasn’t 5 minutes later that we all got up to leave. Bless his heart, He never got that coffee…. And I have now been replaced as the late person by Bro. Phipps. Many thanks to you my tardy savior.

Well, in spite of all that, the meeting went well, and I get to look forward to another one at a later date with the next level down individuals who actually do the work we talked about in this meeting.

It’s all just so exciting. I’m pleased to be in this position, and I have to say it’s definitely a God-thing. I couldn’t have planned this any better for myself, that’s for sure.

The DORK Litmus test:

1. Have you ever stayed up after 1 o'clock in the am playing SKIPBO on a Sunday night?
2. Did you have all your friends return the next night to play again?
3. Have you ever used the word “Litmus” in a sentence and expected everyone to know what you’re referring to?
4. When you say “ALL” your friends do you really mean about 4 people?

If you answered yes to one of these… you might be a DORK. And if that is the case, then hop on the bandwagon, and let me introduce myself… I AM YOUR NEW LEADER! I answered yes to ALL the above! Remarkable and a little bit scary, how a game that your grandmother used to MAKE YOU PLAY, can be addicting in your adult life. Although, I have to say in my defense, that it isn’t so much the game, as the competition that leaves me wanting more. We played teams last night and my team stunk it up a whole lot while the opposite team (A particular breed of unsanctified heathen we’ve nicknamed “Talkers of the Trash”) clobbered us and had the audacity to throw it in our faces afterwards (A common character flaw of the “ TT’s”  - for short). Well, I can swim in the deep end of that gene pool and dish out as much as I can take! So finally tonight in our encore performance of the SKIPBO competition, with a winning streak under my belt, I was able to allow the trash talk to freely flow, like projectile throw-up all over my fellow teammates. Luckily, I wasn’t alone, because a certain Miss Ande Brown was also among the secret society of Skipbo fanatics. And since misery loves company, it was double the fun watching her in action. She proceeded to bring her own amount of SMACK DOWN upon innocent unsuspecting individuals who happened to take more than the tolerable time limit of 30 seconds to discard. Woo HOO! Let the burns begin!

Okay, well, now that this is out of my system, I am waiting for my chance to play against my good friend Shawn “the EX-President” Quinney in a partners tournament (this time with a partner who hadn’t just learned how to play 5 minutes before and just got thrown into it) and show him who really deserves to be “SkipBo Master”. Consider yourself challenged my friend! Oh yes… IT’S ON! Student Congress won’t save you now!

I’m pretty sure the last entire paragraph confirmed to all that I am the undisputed leader of the aforementioned dorks. I’m starting to accept that it is my destiny to shun all things cool and wear my geekness like a super-hero cape for the rest of my life.